Dillard’s (DDS) versus Its Rivals Critical Survey

Dillard’s (NYSE:DDS) is one of 142 publicly-traded companies in the “Broadline Retail” industry, but how does it compare to its rivals? We will compare Dillard’s to related businesses based on the strength of its valuation, institutional ownership, profitability, risk, dividends, analyst recommendations and earnings.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

67.2% of Dillard’s shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 44.5% of shares of all “Broadline Retail” companies are owned by institutional investors. 34.8% of Dillard’s shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 24.0% of shares of all “Broadline Retail” companies are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Dividends

Dillard’s pays an annual dividend of $1.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.2%. Dillard’s pays out 2.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “Broadline Retail” companies pay a dividend yield of 31.9% and pay out 11.5% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. Dillard’s has increased its dividend for 14 consecutive years.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Dillard’s and its rivals revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Dillard’s	$6.47 billion	$570.19 million	14.68
Dillard’s Competitors	$22.63 billion	$1.73 billion	-222.54

Dillard’s’ rivals have higher revenue and earnings than Dillard’s. Dillard’s is trading at a higher price-to-earnings ratio than its rivals, indicating that it is currently more expensive than other companies in its industry.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for Dillard’s and its rivals, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Dillard’s	2	3	0	0	1.60
Dillard’s Competitors	1349	5301	10678	294	2.56

Dillard’s presently has a consensus target price of $521.33, suggesting a potential downside of 15.55%. As a group, “Broadline Retail” companies have a potential upside of 17.13%. Given Dillard’s’ rivals stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Dillard’s has less favorable growth aspects than its rivals.

Profitability

This table compares Dillard’s and its rivals’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Dillard’s	10.09%	31.43%	15.63%
Dillard’s Competitors	-3.13%	-18.30%	-1.26%

Volatility & Risk

Dillard’s has a beta of 1.15, suggesting that its stock price is 15% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Dillard’s’ rivals have a beta of -1.27, suggesting that their average stock price is 227% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Dillard’s beats its rivals on 8 of the 15 factors compared.

About Dillard’s

Dillard’s, Inc. engages in the retail of fashion apparel, cosmetics, and home furnishings, and other consumer goods. It operates through the Retail Operations and Construction segments. The Retail Operations segment comprises sells cosmetics, ladies’ apparel, ladies’ accessories and lingerie, juniors’ and children’s apparel, men’s apparel and accessories, shoes, and home and furniture products. The Construction segment constructs and remodels stores through CDI Contractors, LLC. The company was founded by William Thomas Dillard in 1938 and is headquartered in Little Rock, AR.